Paul McCartney, Steven Tyler create ‘Maccasmith’ on Las Vegas Strip

Paul McCartney and Steven Tyler collaborated in a most unexpected fashion on Friday night at T-Mobile Arena. Deep into the encore of McCartney’s three-hour tour de force, McCartney called out, “We have a special guest! Steven Tyler!”

The crowd, which stood for almost the entire show, went crazy. McCartney’s airtight backing band thundered into “Helter Skelter,” and the two legends shouted through the lyrics.

By the end of the night, the hashtag #Maccasmith appeared on the official social-media pages of both rock stars.

Tyler’s appearance was what his Las Vegas manager, Larry Rudolph, aptly described as a “no-brainer” and symbiotic in its planning. McCartney’s manager, Scott Rodger, is Rudolph’s business partner in Maverick Management music management company.

Tyler is also a fervent Beatles fan, known to crank the band’s music backstage before shows. He was also at The Beatles’ famous Shea Stadium concert in New York in 1965. Oh, and Aerosmith is in town on the latest swing in its “Deuces are Wild” residency at Park Theater. The band has added “Come Together” to the set list.

McCartney and Tyler had a blast singing “Helter Skelter,” “The White Album” staple, which has been unleashed in McCartney’s live shows for the past several years. The song played out like a runaway freight train, with the singers seeming unclear on who would sing which verse. But nobody, onstage or in the crowd, cared.

After the two hugged and Tyler strode from the stage, McCartney said, “The kid is good, isn’t he?” Sir Paul knows. The man can rock it.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His PodKats podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.